


A Small Matter

by RebeccaAnabelBurrows



Series: The Kasinaa Verse [4]
Category: DCU, Justice League - All Media Types
Genre: Established Relationship, Kasinaa Verse, Kid Fic, M/M, just a touch of angst because angst is great, parenting, they're trying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:48:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25173400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RebeccaAnabelBurrows/pseuds/RebeccaAnabelBurrows
Summary: Alfred calls Hal and Bruce's attention to a "small matter".Said small matter may be related to the seven year old alien-raised new addition to the family running around screaming in a makeshift costume.- -“I had to make a cape. Some bats don’t have capes, but capes are better !” she explained.She swirled around to show off her improvised cape - it was so cool ! - and yes, Hal had been right. He saw Bruce pinch the bridge of his nose.“Kasinaa, did you draw a bat on Alfred’s apron ?” Bruce said quietly.- -I tried to make it readable for people who hadn't read the previous piece, but I would recommend to read it first.
Relationships: Hal Jordan/Bruce Wayne
Series: The Kasinaa Verse [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1823572
Comments: 4
Kudos: 57





	A Small Matter

**Author's Note:**

> I've been thinking about giving some additions to some of my works lately, and I knew I'd go back to this verse at some point, so I thought, why not now ? 
> 
> This one takes place about a year after the events in "And that's why we should get married". ~~I totally didn't forget Hal and Bruce were supposed to be married in this one and edited this quickly when I noticed it.~~

Bruce Wayne and Hal Jordan were having a conversation in Bruce’s study when a knock at the door interrupted them. They shared a confused look. Only Alfred would be so polite, any of the kids would have barged in. 

“Come in.” Bruce called. 

The Waynes’ butler didn’t look surprised to find them both here. It was the room where Bruce looked into Wayne Enterprises’ business but Hal joined him occasionally, bringing him something to eat or offering his company if Bruce had been locked up in there for too long. 

They had been talking about one of Batman’s cases. Hal was suggesting a new lead when the knock had startled them. They looked at the butler expectantly. 

“Sirs, there is a small matter I would like to bring to your attention.”

“What is it, Alfred ?” Bruce asked, already standing up. 

Alfred’s small matters were sometimes bigger than an average person’s big issues. 

“Well, you would have a clearer understanding of the situation if you saw for yourselves what it is about”

They all exited the room, and were welcomed by a strident voice coming from another part of the Manor. Bruce and Hal shared a worried glance and stepped up the pace tacitely. 

Sure, Alfred hadn’t sounded too alarmed so no one should be hurt but he had seemed fit to ask for their intervention, and it wasn’t very in character. Alfred would not have burdened them with anything he could have handled on his own. 

“Good to know your study is soundproof.” Hal half-whispered.

Bruce would have rolled his eyes at him if they were facing each other and he didn’t suspect Hal to do so to lighten the atmosphere. However, Hal’s tone was only half-joking.

“I work in there.” he said, his voice firm. 

Hal had an endearing imagination but his interesting ideas weren’t always the most practical.

“So ? We work in the Watchtower too. But you’re probably right, we’re getting too old to bend over desks. Good old mattresses have their perks.”

Bruce closed his eyes briefly. He loved Hal. He didn’t want to murder him. Hal was his husband by Oan law and the official father of his youngest child and more or less a father figure for the other ones. He loved Hal very much. 

“Hal, dear ?” he managed to say in a poised tone as they took another turn in the direction of Kasinaa’s voice. 

The kid’s voice carried well. Hal was feeling vaguely admirative of his seven years old. 

“Hum ?” he said, turning a bit towards his husband. 

“Would you mind not mentioning our sex life in front of the man who had raised me ?”

Hal blushed slightly when he remembered Alfred, who was trailing along quite well despite their quick pace. 

“That’s nothing to be embarrassed of, Master Bruce.”

Bruce brushed it off, probably not wanting to discuss this any longer than necessary. Hal’s father had been long dead but he wouldn’t have liked having this conversation with his Mom either. 

“Any idea why our youngest is screaming at the top of her lungs ? Is Damian still mad because she used all his shampoo to wash her doll’s hair again ? Or had Jason told Kasinaa that screaming when you were happy was an Earth habit ?” Bruce asked. 

Jason loved confusing Kasinaa, but she was getting better at judging what may be true or what was not. “I am training her to recognize potentially fake information.” he had told Hal when he had confronted the young man about it, smirking. 

He was at the Manor more often, now that Kasinaa was here, but that may be because his relationship with Bruce, while still shaky and difficult, had improved. 

Kasinaa enjoyed Bruce’s elder kids’ company and having a big family (she had been an only child, and the only human child in her village), but she loved interacting with Damian in particular, which surprised most of the household, including said assassin child. 

However, his reluctance to hang out with a small kid made her find risky ways to provoke him into acknowledging her. Seven years old were terrifyingly resourceful. 

Alfred was about to answer him when a small tornado collided with Bruce. Bruce scooped her up effortlessly and it made her giggle. 

“Put me down, put me down.” she said, laughing and pushing at Bruce’s arms lightly. “Please, Bruce !” she added, “I am fighting baddies !”

Bruce granted her her wish. Her feet had barely touched the floor that Kasinaa had started screaming again and running all along the corridor, some cloth floating behind her. And was that - the girl turned before Hal could be sure.

He started laughing when he listened to what she was saying. 

“Beware, bad men ! Fear me, since I AM THE NIGHT !” she screamed.

Bruce glared at Hal as he whistled admiratively. Kasinaa had never been made aware about what her father and siblings were doing at night. However, living in Gotham, she had heard of the bats. She just hadn’t been told yet that most of them were family. 

Her adoptive parents had delayed this conversation. They knew she would have to be informed at some point and also that she would probably want to join them in their nightly activities. They had never really discussed it. They knew it would be a difficult parenting decision that would undoubtedly lead to memorable arguments. 

Maybe Hal shouldn’t be so worried about his very young kid wanting to be a vigilante.

She already wanted to do “like Hal-shri with the green light” but her knowing Hal was a Green Lantern had been inevitable. 

“That’s a good impersonalisation.” he said, amused. 

There was no need to spoil her fun even if Bruce and him were probably going to argue about her future in a few hours.  
Bruce pinched his side but Hal was still smiling. Even Alfred looked amused.

“Sweetheart, you’re being a bit too loud.” Hal said when the screaming went back stronger.

She pouted, her chubby hands on her hips.

“But I am Batman, Hal-shri !” she said. 

Kasinaa was fully human, but had been raised on another planet before being adopted by Bruce and Hal. Hal kept talking to her in her native language from time to time so she wouldn’t forget it. She had taken to calling him Hal-shri (“my Hal”) early on. 

“Batman doesn’t yell much.” Hal said, trying to keep a neutral face.

Batman did yell, and had not hesitated to do so, especially at Hal in the beginning of their work relationship.

“She’d make a good Canary, though.” he heard Bruce mutter at his side.

Hal elbowed him discreetly and went to his knees to match Kasinaa’s height.

“Can I tell you a secret ?” he said.

The kid nodded enthusiastically. Hal smiled and whispered into her ear.

“You have to be quiet to catch the baddies. They flee if they hear you going after them.” he said in Pyan.

Kasinaa nodded and hugged him. She liked it when Hal spoke to her in her mother tongue.

“Kay, what are you wearing ?” Bruce finally asked, as if he had only noticed it now but Hal doubted it very much.

He had just waited for the right moment, letting Hal have a moment with their daughter. Hal loved him so much it hurt sometimes.

“My leggings and a t-shirt.” the kid replied defiantly, and she had definitely spent too much time with her older siblings. 

The long-sleeved black t-shirt was too long and too large on her to be her own, but Bruce doubted Damian had surrendered it willingly. 

“I was not talking about those.” he said, and he couldn’t even keep his voice stern. 

The kid was too adorable for that, and Bruce and Hal always had a hard time grounding her when necessary. She was also getting sneakier the more time she spent in the Manor. 

“I had to borrow some stuff.” Kasinaa acknowledged, looking at her feet. “But I’ll give everything back !” she said quickly. 

Hal had a good look at her. She was wearing her yellow rubber boots and the purple knee-pads and elbow-pads Bruce made her wear when Dick was teaching her rollerskating, but this was probably not the part of her attire that had made Bruce raise an eyebrow.

Her gardening gloves were way too big for her, Hal noticed. 

A piece of beige cloth looking suspiciously like Alfred’s apron was hanging from the back of her oversized shirt with the help of clothes pins. 

“I had to make a cape. Some bats don’t have capes, but capes are better !” she explained.

She swirled around to show off her improvised cape - it was so cool ! - and yes, Hal had been right. He saw Bruce pinch the bridge of his nose.

“Kasinaa, did you draw a bat on Alfred’s apron ?” Bruce said quietly.

The young girl looked a bit sheepish. However she shook her head.

“No. It’s felt. I sewed it.” she told them. “It’s green, like Hal-shri’s suit.” she said, her eyes lighting up. 

Hal felt warmth filling him at those words. He knew he wasn’t the most conventional father figure you could wish for, but having Kasinaa’s love made him feel like he was doing alright.

“Damaging others’ property is bad.” Bruce reminded her. 

He had knelt too, so Kasinaa didn’t have to look up.

“Oh.”

She looked past them and ran to Alfred, circling his legs with her arms. 

“I am sorry Alfred. I didn’t want to make you sad. I’ll ask you next time I want something that is yours.” 

It wasn’t a perfect apology, but this family had some serious issues with apologizing so Hal let it go and a shared glance with Bruce comforted him into letting Alfred decide what to say to it.

The old man petted her hair.

“Thank you, young Mistress. Would you like changing into your everyday clothing and having some tea with me in the kitchen ? Your parents have some things to discuss together, I think. Where did you leave the clothes you were wearing earlier in the day, Mistress Kasinaa ?” Alfred asked as he took her little hand into his. 

The little girl shrugged and followed the older man through the Manor. Hal’s eyes followed them until the next corner.

“She’s growing up so fast.” he murmured.

“That she is.” Bruce agreed. 

Kasinaa had been with them for nearly a year now. There were difficult days but today seemed to be a good one. 

“We knew we were going to have this conversation. She couldn't not know forever." 

Bruce frowned at him.

"It's too soon." he said, crossing his arms on his chest.

Hal put his hand on Bruce's arm comfortingly. 

"Maybe but she is going to find out eventually." 

"Preferably after she starts 2nd grade." Bruce said, tight-lipped. 

"You don't want her to be a bat." Hal sighed. 

"Well, can you blame me ?"

Hal just shrugged.

"A lot of people I love are bats."

"You want her to be one ?" 

Bruce's tone was too quiet for Hal's comfort. He had a feeling his husband was screaming internally and trying to control himself. 

"It's something we'll have to consider, sooner or later. You must realize that once she will know what all her siblings are doing at night, what you are doing, she's going to want in. She already does, and she doesn't know you are Batman."

"She's seven." Bruce stated. 

Hal sighed and took his hand. Bruce let him but did nothing to encourage him. He was refusing to meet his gaze. 

"I am not asking you to take her as Robin right now, just that it's something she's going to expect in a few years time when she'll be a pre-teen."

Bruce closed his eyes. He didn’t want to think about it. They still had years to prepare themselves, right ? 

"Let's not talk about this now. We already have to think about when we're going to tell her about what we're doing." he said, rubbing his forehead. 

Hal kissed his nose on a whim. He knew Bruce had a hard time with this. 

"What you're doing. She knows what I do. But maybe we can wait until she turns eight or nine to tell her ?"

"If you ask me, I wouldn't mind waiting until she figures it out on her own." Bruce muttered.

Hal doubted it would be too long before that. She was bound to find out that this family was pretty strange, even for Earth standards, at some point. 

"Yes, maybe we should do that. Let's talk about all this later. Let's just spend some time with our baby girl without worrying too much about her growing up. Did you notice she lacked a mask ? I am going to suggest we make one. She could make pointy ears and everything.”

"Hal." 

Hal just smiled, pulling on Bruce’s hand.

"Come on, let's find some pieces of paper and felt pens and join Alfred and Kay in the kitchen."

“Wait.” Bruce said, brushing his knuckles against his cheek gently.

Hal stopped, waiting for Bruce to say something. Bruce didn’t. He kissed Hal instead, slow and intense. 

“Uh ?” Hal asked when they separated, still waiting for Bruce to say something.

Bruce only smiled, squeezing Hal’s hand that was still in his. 

“I just wanted to do that.”

**Author's Note:**

> Needing some help here. I have some ideas for Kasinaa's superhero name but I haven't decided yet :  
> 1 - Blue Jay  
> 2 - (Black Capped) Chickadee  
> 3 - (Siberian) Blue Robin  
> 4 - Swiflet (but I guess Swift could do too, Swiftlet is a subcategory in English, right ?)


End file.
